Charmy's 2013 ANA NEW ORLEANS SHOW REPORT w/Lots and Lots of Pics!!!

[The Penny Lady]

Phew, what a week! New Orleans is quite a city! I arrived in New Orleans with my hubby last Sunday afternoon so we could have a few days experiencing the city together before the show started since this was the first time either of us had ever been there. Of course I took a lot of photos of my adventures in the NOLA, so while there are many coin-related photos later on in my report, I hope you will indulge me a little during the first part of this report which is more about the City of New Orleans and all its charms. So here we go on Charmy’s Big Easy Adventure!

 

It started with yummy Bloody Mary’s with my hubby Lou at the OC airport

 

 

 

While we were waiting for our flight to take off, I looked out the window and watched the baggage handler loading the suitcases, one of which looked familiar – that’s my bag with the lime green tag!

 

 

 

I had ordered this New Orleans Visitor’s Guide so I had something to read on the plane

 

The Mississippi River shortly before we landed in New Orleans

 

 

Since Rick Snow once lived in New Orleans, he had some friends he wanted to visit so we coordinated our trip and he also arrived on Sunday. He was very kind to pick us up at the airport in a beautiful brand new sparkling blue Dodge, and then he toted us around the city - he made an excellent tour guide

 

 

The Mercedes Superdome where many of the victims of Katrina stayed

 

A beautiful cathedral right alongside the highway

 

After we settled into our hotel, we started exploring the city.

 

 

There were lots of “interesting” sites we saw while walking around in New Orleans, including this Mardi Gras joker statute

 

And this guy – whatever he is

 

This is the St. Louis Cathedral behind Jackson Square – it’s the oldest cathedral in the United States

 

Stonewall Jackson statute

 

Our first dining experience in New Orleans overlooking Bourbon Street

 

Very yummy crab cheese bake

 

Walking around on Bourbon Street

 

 

 

This was hilarious! This dog would lay there on his back and not move an inch!

 

 

There were several of these “Rick’s Saloons” so, of course, we had to take photos of Rick underneath “his” saloons!

 

 

One of the many fantastic bands playing in a pub on Bourbon Street

 

Of course I had to try on one of the famous Mardi Gras masks!

 

Bead-throwers!

 

 

As you can see, I acquired several bead necklaces, but I take the 5th on HOW they were acquired!

 

Another great music venue

 

 

 

An interesting bookstore that was packed from ceiling to floor

 

More great pubs we checked out

 

 

 

These guys at the Funky Pirate were fantastic!!!

 

On Monday, we decided to take a river boat cruise so we had lunch at a restaurant near where the ship launched. These drinks were very tasty but also pricey!

 

Rick and his New Orleans friend, Clay

 

Our riverboat – The Natchez – the only steam-only paddle boat on the river

 

 

While we were waiting to board the ship, a woman played a steam-powered organ on top of the ship – the puffs of smoke are actually steam coming from the organ. It made a wonderful carnival sound.

 

This is a photo of the photograph taken as we were boarding the ship

 

The paddlewheel

 

A view of St. Louis Cathedral from the river

 

Leaving the city

 

Some of the sites along the river – remnants of Hurricane Katrina

 

Domino Sugar Mill - the oldest sugar mill in the world

 

Heading back to the city

 

 

 

Greater New Orleans Bridge

 

Later that evening we went over to the Crazy Lobster restaurant at the River Walk

 

 

Lou wanted something light so he ordered what he thought were some simple fish tacos, but what he got were these huge tacos stuffed with big chunks of breaded fish! He couldn’t even finish all three!

 

The next day – Tuesday – we visited the old New Orleans Mint building

 

 

 

 

Although the museum was rather sparse, there were several interesting items on display

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a jazz museum on the second floor of the Mint building

 

 

 

After we visited the mint, we walked around the city some more. We came upon Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville and stopped in for some refreshments

 

 

This very tasty beverage was called “It’s 5:00 somewhere”!

 

We then walked back to Bourbon Street and took a rest at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop bar – it was built between 1722 and 1732 by Nicolas Touze and is reputed to be the oldest structure used as a bar in the United States.

 

 

 

Our next stop was at Tropical Isle where we tried their famous “gremade” which they taut as the strongest drink in New Orleans!

 

 

 

 

 

Then we went across the street to a little diner that advertised “the world’s best hamburgers” so we asked them what made their burgers so great. They said it was the hubcaps they used when cooking the burgers!! By the way, they didn’t discriminate, they used both Dodge and Ford hubcaps!! While their burgers were very good, I wouldn’t say they were quite the “world’s best.”

 

 

 

 

After lunch, we took a bus tour that took us all around the city, including the 9th Ward, the Garden District, a cemetery, etc.

 

These are referred to as “shotgun” houses – which means that you could open the front door, shoot a shotgun, and it would exit out the back door!

 

 

Many of the homes in the 9th ward were once occupied by plantation slaves. These homes were then given to the slaves after the Civil War, and then the homes were passed on down from family member to family member. Since the residents felt comfortable that the levy system would keep their homes from flooding, they didn’t feel the need for flood insurance. After Katrina, many of the residents couldn’t afford to rebuild, so they simply left and didn’t return.

 

 

When this brick and green house was rebuilt, it was built up high so it wouldn’t be as affected by any future floods

 

These are the notions that were made on each house as they were inspected after Katrina. The number to the left of the circle referred to the number of deceased pets found at the house, and the number on the bottom referred to the number of deceased persons discovered at the house

 

A great number of New Orleans’ musicians were displaced by Katrina, so thanks to donated time and money, beautiful colorful new homes were built along one long block specifically for these musicians – this street is known as Musicians’ Row.

 

We were then taken to the Garden District where the more wealthy residents live. Though their homes were equally damaged by flooding from Katrina, they had insurance and quickly rebuilt their homes.

 

This house has two separate entrance stairs, one for men and one for women – so that the men wouldn’t get a glimpse of any of the lady’s ankles!

 

 

If you look closely, you can see this tree is covered with strings of beads!

 

We learned that everyone is buried above ground in crypts due to, of course, the water levels. A family buys one crypt and each family member is buried there, sometimes several hundred in one crypt.

 

 

And each family member is responsible for the upkeep of their own crypt. The crypts on the right are owned by poor families, many of whom are no longer around or can’t take care of the crypt.

 

 

After the tour, we wondered around the open market area.

 

Then it was back to Bourbon Street!

 

 

 

Wednesday was dealer set up day at the convention center. The New Orleans Convention Center is the largest convention center I’ve ever seen!

 

 

 

 

Our hotel was across the street from Hall C but the show was held in Hall G – about ½ mile away!

 

The ANA had a very nice large prominent rotating sign in front of the convention center

 

I recently applied for membership in the PNG so I attended the membership meeting held just before set up time at the convention center. There was excellent information discussed about, among other things, the so-called “internet sales tax” bill. Also, during a brief break, a wonderful saxophone player came in and played “Happy Birthday” to one of the members!

 

 

After I had my booth set up, I wondered back to the exhibit area and took some photos of the ANA’s exhibits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a very interesting collector exhibit about coin counting boards

 

 

Rick had this very rare Confederate Cent at his table

 

 

After set up, there was a PNG coktail reception which was a great opportunity for me to meet other PNG members, not to mention try some “exotic” hors devours like these alligator pieces!

 

 

Gary Adkins and his newest employee, Chase

 

Gary and the new ANA Executive Director Kim Kick

 

Tom Hallenbeck and Rick Snow

 

After the reception, a group of us took a couple taxis to Emeril’s Demonico for dinner. However, there was an abandoned package left at this intersection, so it was closed off and a ton of police and fire engines descended on the area which effectively shut down several streets, including the one we were on. So we simply got out of the taxi and walked the rest of the way to the restaurant.

 

This was a house we passed along the way that was covered in Mardi Gras beads!

 

We finally reached Emeril’s Demonico

 

And ordered this array of hors devours

 

 

 

 

And of course a nice bottle of wine!

 

 

On Thursday morning this high school jazz band was playing in the registration lobby just before the show opened to the public

 

Opening ceremonies

 

 

Throughout the day, the show was slow to fill up with collectors and many dealers reported poor retail sales. So by early afternoon, there was more dealer to dealer business, as well as dealer socializing than usual!

 

My hubby headed home on Wednesday, and since he’s not much of a gambler, I waited to play poker until after he went home. So after the show on Thursday, I finally got to play some poker at Harrah’s casino which was just down the street from our hotel

 

We first had dinner at their exquisite steakhouse – this is a wonderful seafood bisque I had

 

The poker room – this time I played 1-2 no limit and ended up $400 ahead!

 

 

Early Friday morning I was woken up by loud pitter-pattering of rain on my window. When I turned on the tv, I found out we were having a “severe” thunder and lightning storm, with some areas around the outskirts of the city under tornado watch! The tv then went out so I headed downstairs for some breakfast, where a warning soon sounded requesting that everyone evacuate the hotel. I asked the service staff what we were supposed to do and they said that when we see the staff leave, that’s when we should leave. Apparently, they receive a lot of false alarms – that was a bit disconcerting!

 

 

After breakfast, we headed over to the show of course! The show must go on!! A very kind hotel staff member with a huge umbrella graciously walked me across the street to the convention center so I wouldn’t get soaked.

 

Business seemed to pick up on Friday. I sold a couple Matte Proof Lincolns and one of my 1955/55 doubled dies. I was also able to pick up some nice new pieces for my inventory.

 

I only saw a few non-dealer forum members at this show – this is Kirk/Kirkuleez (CoinTalk) who brought me this very intriguing bottle of Louisiana Cajun Spiced Run!!!

 

 

This is a good customer friend of mine, Michael, and his very special Rag Doll service kitty. Michael has severe bouts of PTSD and this beautiful 18-pounder kitty is able to detect when one of his spells is coming on and meows loudly and consistently, and then comforts Michael. He even has an official service ID card.

 

 

This is the wine I bought at a local liquor store to have and share during the show. They are not the best wines, but they did fine in a pinch, especially considering they cost 3 times what I would pay in California for the same bottles!

 

PCGS wasn’t doing onsite grading and were only receiving submissions to take back to the office for grading, so they didn’t seem quite as busy as they usually are at these shows, but they were just as gracious and friendly as always!

 

I dropped off several Conder tokens for grading at NGC – they too are so friendly and helpful!

 

This is Michael Ellis, an ANA board member

 

And Grey Lyon, another ANA board member as well as CU forum member

 

It was still raining when we left the show on Friday evening

 

 

 

 

Our dinner reservations weren’t until 8pm, so we stopped off at this little pub not far from our hotel before dinner

 

 

 

 

Since the restaurant we were meeting at was right on Bourbon Street, we wondered around before dinner. Being Friday night, and since the rain had stopped, it was starting to get crowded

 

 

 

This painted blue dog artwork turned up quite a bit all over New Orleans

 

 

This is the back of St. Louis Cathedral

 

We walked around to the front of the cathedral and when I was taking this photo of Rick and Ron, I noticed the cathedral doors opened.

 

 

And suddenly a wedding party came walking out of the cathedral!

 

 

There was even a jazz band playing while the bride and groom and wedding party danced!

 

Then a large group of us met at Court of the Two Sisters for dinner in the French Quarter, which has an interesting history. It is named for Emma and Bertha Camors, sisters who once owned a notions and fancies shop. Emma and Bertha belonged to a proud, aristocratic Creole family; their “rabais,” or notions, outfitted many of New Orleans’ high society women in formal gowns, lace, and perfumes imported from Paris. With a larger courtyard than its neighbors, the residence lent itself to visitors, and the sisters’ shop received many. Marriage, reversals of fortune, widowhood--nothing could separate the two sisters. Indeed, as the Picayune was to report, the sisters died within two months of each other in the winter of 1944. They lie side by side at St. Louis Cemetery No. 3, united in death as in life.

 

 

This is a “Charm Gate” plaque right outside the restaurant – so of course I had to have a photo with it!

 

The bar inside the restaurant

 

Our dinner group – from left going around the table: Glenn Holsonbake/PonyExpress, me, Ron, Neil (Rick’s friend) and his wife Barbara, Rick Snow, Neil’s daughter’s friend Alex, and Neil’s daughter Megan

 

Though I’m really fond of turtles, I decided to give their turtle soup a try – and it wasn’t bad, sort of tasted like chicken

 

It went well with this nice bottle of Mondavi Cab (well, what doesn’t go with a nice Cab!)

 

Then it was out last night in New Orleans so we did one last tour of Bourbon Street where I acquired even more Mardi Gras beads (again, I take the 5th on how I got them!)

 

After Bourbon Street, we headed down to Frenchman Street where we heard the locals go for some great jazz music. But it was so crowded that we couldn’t even get in to see any of the bands, so we just walked around. I thought this sign was intriguing

 

Back at the show on Saturday, many of the dealers sort of wondered in a little more later than usual! Seems many of them did the same thing we did on Friday night! I took these photos around noon on Saturday – it was starting to grow sparse.

 

 

Here is Glenn Holsonbake/PonyExpress manning his table!

 

Rick had this beautiful medal in his case from the 1972 ANA show in New Orleans

 

 

 

Then it was time to pack up and head home. I had such a great time in New Orleans, so much good food and beverages, and lots of fun with my hubby and friends! But I have to say, that after a week of carousing, drinking and eating, and working at the show, I was very ready to go home!

 

Me so happy to be heading home!!!

 

 

 

I changed planes in Denver and after we took off, I really enjoyed flying over the majestic Rocky Mountains

 

 

 

I finally arrived home late Saturday night, and went straight to bed. I was so exhausted that I slept at least 12 hours! It is so good to be home…..

 

Next up – well, we actually have tickets to see the Rolling Stones in concert on Wednesday at the Honda Center in Anaheim – I AM SO EXCITED since they are the last group I had on my bucket list of groups I hadn’t yet seen in concert.

 

Then, it’s the Long Beach show in early June, then I will be off to the ANA Summer Seminar the end of June!!

 

[delta]

Thanks for sharing the Norleans scenario with us, your longest report yet posted. Your time and effort in making these show reports is always highly appreciated, and as usual, by power of suggestion, your report has gotten me to open a bottle of wine here at home, even if it's with a label and vintage you'd scoff at.

[123cents]

Thanks about as good as it can get. Great group of photos and report. Thanks Charmy. It's almost like being there!

[ldhair]

Great report.

[RWB]

Nice report. The coin show was possibly the least interesting part of the presentation, although the counting board display was good.

 

PS: Next time you’re in NO, let the folks at the museum know that the mint did not have "scales" for weighing metals and coins - they used balances which were much more accurate.

 

[WhiteTornado]

Great report as always, thanks!

[johnny9434]

nice report charmy, wtg

[comeaux]

Wow ! Very nice report from NOLA !!! Awesome pictures !!! (thumbs u

 

My wife is from New Orleans, born and raised … she went to Sacred Heart which one of the big schools you would have passed by on St. Charles as you were headed to Audubon park. I’m from Lafayette which is about 2 hours from NOLA and where we currently live. We still make it to NOLA about twice a month to visit her family.

 

We really wanted to make this coin show but our son was sick so we had to pass on it but your pics made me feel like I was there.

 

Next time you make it down to the Big Easy … drive about an hour away to River Road, it’s definitely worth the drive as there are countless, gorgeous antebellum homes lining the river with columns of oaks that are 100’s of years old. You won’t be disappointed !

 

Anyways …thanks agin for the epic pics

 

[WoodenJefferson]

Thanks for sharing...Ahhh, Naw'lins.

[Coagman]

Thanks for the comprehensive report!

[Elbesaar]

 

Charmy... Once again, I feel as if I were there with you - and had

a great meal with one of the wines featured. I gain weight just looking

at your threads.

 

Thanks for posting not only your coins, but also Rick's Confederate Cent.

 

 

[cpm9ball]

Thanks for the wonderful report, Charmy. Though I've made many connecting flights in New Orleans, I've never ever visited the city, and your "photo tour" is much appreciated.

 

Two comments......

 

Are you sure that the 16th photo is Stonewall Jackson rather than Andrew Jackson? Of course, Andy led the troops in the battle for New Orleans in the War of 1812, but I don't think my distant relative, Stonewall Jackson, had much impact on the city during the Civil War.

 

Also, if you haven't already tried one, you should sometime try a bloody mary with a dill pickle spear rather than stuffed olives. It's great!

 

Chris

[Coindude]

Chris, this is a different angle, but I do believe Charmy got it right.

 

And thank you Charmy for such a wonderful report. You have no idea how much we/I enjoy these!

 

[The Penny Lady]

Thank you everyone - your appreciation of my reports makes it so much more fun for me to put these together!

 

Chris, I too got a little confused when I was writing this report as to which Jackson the statue was, and Rick had to remind me that it was Andrew. I meant to change my post earlier!

 

Here's what Wiki says:

 

"Early French colonial New Orleans was originally centered around what was then called the Place d' Armes. After the Battle of New Orleans, in 1815, the Place d' Armes was renamed Jackson Square after the victorious United States general Andrew Jackson. In the center of the park stands an equestrian statue of Jackson erected in 1856, one of four identical statues in the United States by the sculptor Clark Mills."

 

So, I mentioned at the end of my report that I was seeing the Rolling Stones this week. Well, I hope you don't mind a little (more) OT, but it was such a FANTASTIC concert, that I wanted to share some of my photos. These guys may be elderly and a bit weathered looking, not to mention skinny, but they absolutely still have it. Mick sounded as good as ever, Keith was amazing as always, and they put on a energetic, non-stop show - and special guest John Mayer popped in for one perfect bluesy number too! Now my rock group bucket list is complete - it almost feels as good as when I completed my Indian cent set - ok, not quite, but close!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Coindude]

My Rock bucket list will never be complete. It would have had people like, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin.... just to name a few I never got to see. Most of those were gone before I even saw my first concert in 1983.

[The Penny Lady]

Even though the tickets were outrageously priced, that is exactly why I wanted to see The Rolling Stones before they were gone - not to mention I love their music. Same reason we saw The Who a couple months ago. These rock legends are now in their 70's and won't be around, or at least playing their great music, that much longer.

[Coindude]

I saw The Who on their original "last tour"

 

I believe that was in 1988 at Oakland Stadium. I actually saw them two nights in a row! Great concert, glad I went... but I should sue them for false advertisement!